Hundreds of dead fish floating in Crittenden County lake

CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. — There’s a smelly situation in Crittenden County, Ark., between Marion and West Memphis, where hundreds of dead fish are floating on a lake.

That lake is in the middle of a mobile home park, and people say they can’t bear to go outside because of the stench.

“Oh Lord, that smell is foul. You can smell it way back here,” said Debbie Metzger.

She lives a stones throw, or make that a “dead fish toss,” from the mess.

Hundreds of lifeless fish are floating atop the lake in Lakeshore Estates mobile home park in Crittenden County.

“Some of them are bass. That’s a catfish. The brown ones are brims,” said Metzger.

People here said dead fish started surfacing a couple of days ago, and the smell keeps getting worse.

One of those complaining is Nancy Nelson, who has family living in Lakeshore Estates.

“My daughter said, ‘Mom, it smells like sewer.’ And I said, ‘No, that’s dead fish, dead fish. Only that smell is dead fish,'” said Nelson.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have been to the lake to investigate.

We’re told the fish appeared to have died from a lack of oxygen in the water, something that occasionally happens during the summer on residential lakes or ponds when water remains still for an extended period.

However, inspectors did take water samples to check for any signs of contamination.

Jeff Cayton said this sort of thing has happened before on the lake.

Cayton used to live in Lakeshore Estates, but is now on a mission to clean up the community and hates to see the lake looking and smelling the way it does.

“At one time you could come out here and you’d see people all around that lake fishing and boating. You don’t see nothing out there but dead fish now. And that’s pitiful that anybody’s got to live around that,” said Cayton.

We’re told there are no plans to remove the dead fish; instead, they’ll just have to go through a natural decaying process.